During heart operations in which elevated right ventricular (RV) afterload results in RV failure (e.g. Eisenmenger Syndrome, peripheral pulmonary stenosis), various methods have been employed to establish stable hemodynamics. Relief of RV failure secondary to suprasystemic RV hypertension was studied in six adult sheep. In each animal right ventricular hypertrophy (RVH) and elevated RV systolic pressure (RVSP), 69.7 mm Hg, were chronically created. During the study a stent conduit containing a bioprosthetic valve was placed allowing blood to shunt unidirectionally from the RV to the descending thoracic aorta. RV failure initially induced by constricting the pulmonary artery resulted in decline of RVSP, 32%, systemic areterial (SA) mean pressure, 31%, descending aortic blood flow (DABF), 43%, and brachiocephalic blood flow (BCBF), 17.8%. Right atrial pressure (RAP) and right ventricular end-diastolic pressure (RVEDP) rose by 12.6% and 16.9%, respectively. Subsequent opening of the implanted shunt resulted in significant normalization of these parameters. Green dye curves performed by right atrial injection and carotid or femoral artery sampling revealed that blood was primarily shunted to the lower aortic vasculature. This was confirmed by femoral and carotid arterial oxygen analysis. With an adequate size conduit hemodynamic stability was maintained throughout the experimental period.